The Greater Good
by sapidus
Summary: Twilight Sparkle has been watching the night sky. However, for Celestia and Luna this is a problem. There is much more at risk than anypony realizes.


Authors Note at Bottom

**-The Greater Good-**

Before Princess Celestia was a large stone door. For the majority of Canterlot's thousand year history the chamber had gone unused. However, the return of Princess Luna had seen previously unused rooms being converted. Celestia had gone with her younger sister to their old castle in the Everfree forest to retrieve some of her belongings.

Celestia had not meant to allow the castle they had shared together to fall into disuse. However, circumstance had dictated otherwise. One of the items they had retrieved had been the obsidian door that now blocked the entrance to Luna's chamber. Celestia did not see the charm, but apparently her sister was fond of the stone.

Beyond the door the sound of battle rung out: horn against horn, hoof against armor, and magic clashing against magic. With a pulse of power Celestia opened the large stone door and slowly entered her sister's training chamber. She was in no rush and would rather not be hit by an errant blast of arcane energy.

Her sister was dressed in armor not too dissimilar from the armor she had worn when she had appeared as Nightmare Moon less than a year ago. Luna was in the middle of a pitched battle. Her opponent was another alicorn, one that looked like a mirror image of Luna. However, when Celestia looked closely she could see that the 'other Luna' was slightly transparent and insubstantial.

After standing in the doorway for a moment and receiving no attention from her sister, Princes Celestia's voice rang out lightly, "Dear sister."

Princess Luna of Equestria raised her horn and looked over at her older sibling. As her concentration wavered the shadow image of herself that she had been sparring with wavered and then dissipated. The younger of the two sisters felt annoyance that Celestia would interrupt her workout session, but wondered what might have brought her to the sparse chamber.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your training session, but there is an issue that we need to discuss."

Luna made her way over to the bench along the wall and sat down. The younger sister took her time, remaining silent as she moved. She knew that her slow methodical movements were likely irritating her older sister. However, Celestia would never allow the irritation to show on her face or in her voice. It was part of the reason that they had decided it had been Luna who needed to leave. Celestia had always been a better 'people' person and was naturally suited for ruling the courts.

"What is it Celest? I assume it must be fairly important if you are skipping your evening tea. Was I right in my hypothesis that the parasprites are beginning to fail?"

The princess of the day and sun let out a light laugh as she responded, "No, no, my dear sister. I assure you, the incidents in Fillydelphia and Ponyville are nothing to worry about. The creatures are still playing their part even if their efficiency has dropped. No, this has to do with a letter I have received from my student. It seems that recently she has begun taking the time to better observe and appreciate _your_ night."

Luna giggled at this, remembering the correspondence that she had recently received from the younger unicorn, "Yes, I am already aware of that. She sent me a letter thanking me for the recent meteor shower. She went on about how much she had enjoyed the beauty of the night. Despite the ignorance of her comments, it was still a very nice letter. However, I do not see why this is an issue. If anything, it perhaps means she believes the story of how I became Nightmare Moon. The idea that I rebelled out of jealousy seems to be holding up to scrutiny, even from _them._ "

"It would not be a problem if she was simply appreciating the night. However, she has been taking detailed observations of the movements of the stars and the moon. During the day she has been tracking the passage of the sun through the sky as the seasons change. She has begun to divine the existence of the celestial spheres. Her most recent letter theorized that this planet in fact orbits the sun and that the moon orbits us."

Luna's eyes opened in surprise. It had been some time since anypony thought about the heavens beyond simply that 'the two sisters control the rising and setting of the moon and sun.' Now she understood why Celestia had come to her training chamber and spoke her concern, "Has she discovered yet that we don't-"

"Neigh. She thinks that she has uncovered the mechanism by which our magic operates to control the day and the night. Her letter was filled with great excitement at arriving at a greater understanding my nature. My student has not yet thought of any power other than our magic which could propel the planet through the heavens. Twilight is, however, nothing if not smart. I would not be at all surprised if she made the connection between gravity and orbits."

"Shall we deal with her the same way we have dealt with others in the past?"

"No!" Celestia cried out, but upon realizing her outburst turned her head away in embarrassment, "I mean, no. I have grown… found of Twilight Sparkle. I do not wish to see any harm come to her. She is a wonderful individual. Her absence would pain me greatly. Besides, I believe there is another reason to nurture my student. When the time comes she will be the candidate most likely to give birth to the focus, and I believe if her friends all mate with the proper stallions, we may even be able to get the stabilizers all in the same generation."

"Oh big sister, I keep telling you that you are far too optimistic when it comes to this. We are still generations off from seeing the focus appear. We are going to need to wait hundreds of years If not longer for those plans to move along."

Celestia smiled wryly at her sister, "you experienced the power of my student's magic first hoof I am surprised that you do not feel as I do."

Luna rose from her seat and walked towards Celestia, "A thousand years slowly ensuring our kingdoms safety has made me patient. I'm willing to wait a couple hundred more years. We've come too close to rush things now."

"Perhaps…" Celestia paused in thought before continuing, "Regardless, I have not told you the most troubling part. She posits the existence of – and I quote – 'an event during which the moon may pass in front of the sun and create an illusion of night.' I fear that it is only a matter of time before she discovers that an eclipse occurred during the Summer Sun Celebration. We cannot allow her to provoke them."

Luna looked at her sister in exasperation. But then she looked at her older sister's eyes. They were filled with fear. When it came to such matters Celestia had always given deference to Luna. The older alicorn lacked the strength of heart to do what was needed. Luna had hardened herself to such decisions long ago and the last thousand years had only strengthened her resolve.

Now Luna could see that Celestia was afraid of what she had to say. It surprised the princess of the moon. Her older sister must really care for her young pupil. However, her sister had always been more willing to open herself up to others. Looking at Celestia, Luna knew that, despite her emotions towards Twilight Sparkle, the eldest sister would abide by what Luna decided.

The darker colored alicorn stepped forward and rubbed her nose along Cellestia's neck and made a soft hum to provide her sister with some comfort, "Do not worry Celestia, no harm need come to your student." Luna let out a snort, "You always did care so much about the individual."

"And you dear Luna, have always been willing to set aside the individual for the greater good. It is why you were the one who had to leave a thousand years ago and I was the one to take the mantle of the sole ruler of Equestria."

"Do you still feel guilty for 'banishing me to the moon?' I have told you that while I would not be eager to return to that hell, I do not hold it against you that I was the one to go. Even ignoring our personalities, my particular magical affinities made me the better candidate. I look around at all you have done for Equestria while I was gone and know that we made the right choice."

Celestia stepped back from Luna's 'embrace' and smiled at her sister, "Thank you. Once again it is good to have you back. Your absence weighed heavily on me. And thank you for your understanding regarding Twilight. She is like a… She is important to me."

Luna began trotting over to her balcony to watch the sunset. She called back to her sister, "Still, something must be done. I assume we do not just want to be honest with her?"

"No, I think that would be a… mistake. Perhaps in time my student will be ready for the truth, but I think now it would be too much for her. The best course of action, I believe, would be to call her back to Canterlot. If I increase the intensity of her studies of magic, it will not leave her with the free time to ponder the nature of the universe. I just hope that Twilight does not hate me too much for pulling her away from her friends now that she finally has them."

"You could give her the occasional weekend off. She could take the opportunity to visit Ponyville. She would be so happy to have a chance to see her friends, she would likely not even think about spending the time to take astronomical measurements."

Celestia stepped up beside her sister. The view was breathtaking. The setting sun framed Ponyville in the distance. It was always a beautiful sight. Celestia breathed in the air and felt a momentary pang of guilt. For nearly as long as she could remember she had allowed their subjects to believe that her sister and herself were responsible for such moments. For the last thousand years everypony had believed that such beauty was her work alone.

Every rising and setting of the sun and the moon, every equinox and solstice, they all brought her guilt. The small smile playing across Luna's face told Celestia that the guilt did not plague her sister. Despite being younger, Luna had always been the stronger one. The darker alicorn had better been able to accept their rationalizations.

Princess Celestia thought of some of the things she had done over the eons. She thought of the last millennium spent without her sister. She thought of her precious student and what might yet need to be done. With all of these thoughts running through her mind, a small tear ran down her face.

Yet things were coming to a close. Celestia hoped to see Equestria safe within a generation, even though she knew that she was being optimistic. Luna, ever the pessimist, was, in all probability, more accurate in her estimation of the future. Even after all the atrocities they had committed, they would likely need to commit many more before all was said and done. Still they had done what had been needed.

As if sensing her dark thoughts, Princess Luna stepped nearer to her big sister and raised a wing over her shoulder, giving her a hug. She spoke softly, such that Celestia could barely hear, "Try not to trouble yourself. Your compassion for our subjects is your strength but also your weakness. We have acted for the greater good and the good of all of Equestria. There are nightmares out there far worse than the two of us. Until we can banish that darkness we do what we must to keep Equestria safe – for the greater good…"

The words were meant to comfort. But for once, Celestia silently questioned her sister's resolve. Luna's softly spoken words sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than the older sister. Celestia stared out over Equestria gazing at the shadows beyond reality's edge. She prayed that Twilight Sparkle and the other pony's of Equestria would never need to face the nightmares that lurked just beyond their reach. She hoped history would look kindly on their actions and understand their decisions.

Quietly, so quietly that even Luna could not hear, Princess Celestia muttered to herself, "Yes… for the greater good."

**Authors Note:**

This story has been intended as a one shot. However, there is certainly room for me to continue it (I have a clear idea for at least two more chapters). If there seems to be a lot of interest in me continuing it I will. Otherwise it will rest as is, and I will work on another multipart story that's been in my brain.


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